Starting in the 1960s, William Shatner, riding high on his Star Trek fame, began his idiosyncratic musical career. With his 1968 concept album, The Transformed Man, the actor gave us the first taste of his musical schtick. He wouldn't sing songs. He would speak them, often in a melodramatic, exaggerated fashion. Just listen to his versions of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "Mr. Tambourine Man" to see what I mean.

Four decades later, the Shat hasn't changed his style. In 2011, he released a popular version of Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" (watch below) on his space-themed album, Seeking Major Tom. But really, if you want to experience the high watermark of Shatner's musical work, you need to beam yourself back to 1978. That's when the actor hosted The Saturn Awards (essentially the Oscars for science fiction, fantasy & horror films) and "sang" a version of "Rocket Man," the 1972 song co-written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It's Taupin who introduces Shatner, and Karen Black who introduces Taupin.

FREE UPDATES!

GET OUR DAILY EMAIL

Get the best cultural and educational resources on the web curated for you in a daily email. We never spam. Unsubscribe at any time.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA

About Us

Open Culture editor Dan Colman scours the web for the best educational media. He finds the free courses and audio books you need, the language lessons & movies you want, and plenty of enlightenment in between.